Science

An unprecedented abundance of publicly available scientific data combined with the demands of the new Next Generation Science Standards make it more important than ever to encourage students to think of themselves as “citizen scientists.”

And…an invitation to a Google Hangout with NASA and Columbia University scientists for a lively and candid climate change discussion.
June 2, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. Reserve a spot for you or a class of students to participate at the NASA Hangout Event page.

Thanks to the contributions of Carolyn Harris, GISS at Columbia University, Pushker Kharecha, GISS at Columbia University, Anthony Del Genio, NASA GISS, Gavin Schmidt, NASA GISS, and Ryan Goble, Glenbard Township District #87 Schools,
the ideas below can, we hope, help students become critical consumers and users of scientific information — and feel empowered to address real-world problems with what they learn.

Part I: The Basics: What Students Should Do Before Conducting Research

Photo

Machines digging for brown coal in front of a power plant near Grevenbroich, Germany, in April 2014. Related ArticleCredit Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Before students can do the citizen-science research in Part II, or complete any of the final projects in Part III, we suggest they do the following four things:

1. Adopt a critical-thinking mind-set.

Climate change news can be alarming — like the information in this Times article about
the likelihood of “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts on people and ecosystems.” It can also be confusing, raising troubling questions and revealing conflicting priorities,
contentious debates and polarized views about everything from the science itself to ideas for tackling the problem.

But climate change is the kind of messy, complex scientific problem that news reports increasingly ask us to make sense of. From the spread of the Ebola virus to securing cyberspaces, ensuring food and water safety
and making energy choices, it helps to adopt the mind-set of a good scientist (and good critical thinker) to understand our changing world.

You might frame students’ study of this topic with these key questions:

You might begin by asking students: What do you know, or think you know, right now about climate change? What questions do you have? What do you need to know?

To do this, you might facilitate a basic K/W/L exercise as a starting point. When students are done, have them share both what
they know (or think they know) and what questions they have in small groups. Ask them to note how much of what was in their own columns was echoed by similar statements or questions on others’ sheets. Where
did they see disagreement or confusion? Why do they think that is?

You might point out to students that the overwhelming majority (about 97 percent) of the world’s climate scientists agree that accumulated scientific evidence
shows Earth’s average global temperature has increased significantly over the last 150 years (and rapidly over the past several decades), and that human activities are the primary cause. Specifically, the
evidence tells us that the consequence of the cornerstone of the Industrial Revolution, and therefore modern civilization — carbon dioxide emission from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) —
is now the dominant driver of long-term global climate change.

Scientists study climate in many different time periods (decades, centuries and millenniums) and on several spatial scales (local, regional and global).

One of the most important concepts needed to understand the significance of climate change is the distinction between the scale of weather and climate. The British geographer Andrew John Herbertson once wrote: “Climate
is what on average we may expect. Weather is what we actually get.”

Trumpeter swans are among the species that, by 2050, are not expected to be able to live in most of their current territory, according to a report. Related ArticleCredit Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Now that your students have a little more background, let them know that the work they’ll do in this section of the unit is based on real-world questions capturing the attention of climate scientists right now.

These scientists are motivated by widespread, long-term changes they are observing in Earth’s climate system — from unmistakable rises in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and global temperature over
the last 150 years, to net loss of sea ice and ice from mountain glaciers and ice sheets to a rise in global average sea level to large-scale shifts in plant and animal habitats, along with many other observable changes in the land, ocean and atmosphere.

The questions can be investigated individually or divided up among groups of students who then brief one another. For a deeper dive, you can also use or adapt the GISS Hot Lesson: Climate Change: Lines of Evidence. (PDF)

As students work, they might aim at one or more of the final project ideas we list at the bottom of this post.

Question 1: Is there evidence that Earth’s average global temperature has increased over the last approximately 150 years?

What data sources are used to directly measure global temperatures? Take a look at the graphic above. What can students say about the average decade-to-decade temperature change since the late 1970s? Does it appear
that the average temperature of the 2000s (2000 to 2009) was warmer than that of the 1990s? How about the 1990s versus the 1980s and the 1980s versus the 1970s? Students can confirm their answers quantitatively
by examining the actual GISS global temperature data set here.

Why are widespread ice loss and global sea level rise indirect indicators of global temperature change? Does one of these phenomena affect the other? Challenge students to design a demonstration or experiment involving
ice cubes and a glass of water to show their understanding of the concept.

Scientists have known that trace greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are very important in determining global climate since the 19th century. Carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gases. Read 2013’s
“Heat-Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears” to find out what happened to carbon
dioxide levels since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

In terms of percentages, how much has the atmospheric carbon dioxide level changed since pre-industrial times?”

Based on the article, how unusual is this change in the context of Earth’s history over the past 800,000 years?

How far back in time might we have to go back to find similar carbon dioxide levels?

Is the recent change connected to burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas)?

If so, what is the key chemical element being burned that is common to all three types of fuel? Based on this, what do you think happens to carbon dioxide levels when trees are burned? How about when they regrow?

For more insight on the effects of carbon dioxide on climate, look at the GISS Research Brief discussing How Carbon Dioxide Controls Earth’s Temperature.
Carbon dioxide is one of many greenhouse gases; water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and many others are also important.

Question 3: What are the main causes of 20th- and 21st-century global climate change?

Being able to discern the contribution of both natural and human factors on the rise in Earth’s average global temperature is crucial to understanding the influence of human activity on our planet’s climate.

Science is clear on the point that one extreme event like the 2003 heat wave in Europe that caused 50,000 deaths or Hurricane Sandy, which devastated New York and New Jersey coastal areas, is not – on its own
– connected to long-term climate change. Only when scientists look at statistics over a long period for the frequency, duration and severity of these events can they draw conclusions about whether these events
have been affected by climate change over the same period. But according to the 2014 United States National Climate Assessment,
“Human-induced climate change has already increased the number and strength of some of these extreme events,” in particular heat waves and extreme downpours.

Questions to think about:

What are some ways in which recent climate change has already affected both human society and natural ecosystems?

If the recent global warming trend continues, do scientists expect these impacts to be magnified, reduced or to stay basically the same?

Do they conclude that adaptation to climate change will be sufficient by itself?

Based on this article, what are some reasons the Defense Department regards climate change as a
major national security issue?

Question 5. Do you think action is needed to mitigate human-caused climate change?

If, at the end of all their research, students agree that action is warranted, what are the science-based approaches being considered?

Along with its report on the impacts of climate change discussed above, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report last year devoted to mitigation of climate change, which The Times covered in
“Climate Efforts Falling Short, U.N. Panel Says.”

Ask students:

Is there widespread agreement among the world’s governments that climate change is a major problem that needs to be mitigated?

Does the scientific evidence support the notion that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will slow down global climate change?

Why do you think energy supply is one of the main focuses of mitigation research?

Are most mitigation approaches simple – like switching light bulbs, recycling more, or driving hybrid cars – or will they entail fundamental changes in the way human society operates?

What might be the costs associated with mitigation or adaptation? Do researchers think the benefits will outweigh the costs?

How urgent is all of this – do scientists think we have a lot of time to achieve internationally agreed upon climate change targets?

What are some consequences scientists predict if mitigation efforts are delayed, in terms of likely climate impacts and economic costs?

Seniors conducting a lab session at a Worcester, Mass., school that teaches climate change, as new standards suggest. Related ArticleCredit Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

As a culmination of all their research and discussion, students might consider doing any or all of the following. For each, remind them to be sure to support their claims with evidence.

Take a Stand

Pose the following problem to students, then invite them to debate the idea as a class, create short, persuasive videos to answer the question, or write editorials for the local or school newspaper making their own
suggestions:

Knowing what you now know about the underlying science, if you were an influential world leader – say of a major developed country like the United States – on which climate change issues would you
focus your efforts? Why? What might stand in your way, and how would you address those issues?

Create ‘Explainers’ for Young People

You know you really understand a concept when you can teach it to someone else. Challenge students to write and teach a lesson plan for a neighboring elementary school or create a book, video or website aimed at young
children that explains some of what they learned through the reading, research and discussion they have done. They might focus on answering the very questions we posed at the beginning of this lesson:

What do we know about recent climate change?

How do we know it?

Why does a changing climate matter?

Given what we know, what can we do?

Make Data Visualizations That Can Help People Understand Climate Change Issues

Then, challenge your students to choose some aspect of what they’ve learned that especially interests them — whether threatened animal species, extreme weather, the need to understand the difference between weather and climate, or anything else — and find interesting, informative ways to represent it visually.

Help Out by Collecting Data for a Continuing Citizen Science Project

You can find lists of such projects in many places. For instance, on the Cornell University website, you can find links to projects
on everything from monitoring sea turtle nests in Florida to tracking pollen release for allergy sufferers to collecting data on how butterfly populations are affected by climate change.

The Goddard Institute for Space Studies is sponsoring a Google Hangout with NASA and Columbia University scientists for a lively and candid climate change discussion on June 2, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. Reserve
a spot for you or a class of students to participate at the NASA Hangout Event page, and email Carolyn Harris at cah40@columbia.edu with
any questions.

Deniers Rule! The only things certain and unstoppable are 34 more years of global disbelief and climate action failure;

34 YEARS of failure at achieving the climate action targets needed 25 YEARS ago to SAVE THE PLANET is 100% proof science’s 97% certainty was NOT “certainty”. Deny that………………..follow
the herd sheeple; *Occupywallstreet now does not even mention CO2 in its list of demands because of the bank-funded and corporate run carbon trading stock markets ruled by trust worthy politicians.

Evidence for human caused climate change is compelling and becoming more conclusive every year. The question is what to do about climate change? The answers are political not technical. They come down to
cost effective $/kwh. a huge part of the answer is new nuclear power. See List of pro-nuclear environmentalists on Wikipedia.